


Case 28: The Haunted Shoe Factory

by GooberFeesh



Category: Mystery Skulls (Band), Mystery Skulls Animated
Genre: F/M, Just your typical run-of-the-mill paranormal investigation plot, Lewis is alive, Pre-Cave, Pre-established relationship between Lewis and Vivi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-20
Updated: 2016-06-22
Packaged: 2018-06-09 15:02:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,322
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6912007
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GooberFeesh/pseuds/GooberFeesh
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A haunted shoe factory proves to be more than the Mystery Skulls gang bargained for. Especially when they realize that their potential poltergeist is realer than they originally thought.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Watch Your Step

**Author's Note:**

> While I’m still chugging away at my other MSA fic, Sleepless, I decided to revisit the very first MSA fic I ever wrote. I had originally posted this fic on another writing forum, but after doing some major editing/rewriting, I’ve decided it’s ready for ao3. Enjoy! :)

“WELP. We can officially cross out ‘creepy factory’ on our list of places we’ve investigated,“ Vivi proudly proclaimed as she and Lewis descended into the basement of said creepy factory.

"I had no clue you were even keeping a list, to be honest,” Lewis replied, shining the flashlight in front of them to illuminate the murky gloom that encased the lower level of the abandoned building.

“You bet your bottom dollar I’m keeping a list, buddy. I’ve also been considering making a bingo card,“ the bluenette continued excitingly. "Mystery can be the free space—no, I’ve got it! The free space can be… _eeeek!_ ”

The rotted wooden step beneath Vivi’s petite feet abruptly broke, and had not Lewis swept her back into one of his large arms she would have fallen a good twenty feet onto solid cement and gone kersplat! Her heart pounded in her chest as she held onto Lewis’ thick forearm and looked down into the gaping hole the flashlight was now focusing on.

“ _Holy moley,_ ” she exhaled, prior to glancing up at her protector with a smile. “Ace save, bro. That would’ve been bad.”

“Uh, that would have been **really** bad. Are you okay?“ Lewis asked, looking down at his girlfriend.

"Yuppers!” Vivi exclaimed, removing one of her hands from his arm to offer a confirming thumbs-up. "Takes a lot more than a rickety set of stairs to send this gal packing. Or well…I guess, to send this gal falling through stairs?”

Lewis softly snorted at Vivi’s verbal amendment and then hunched forward to set a relieved kiss atop her head (a relieved kiss that she naturally leaned back into with a pleasant hum). His arm slowly released her, but instead of letting her go a step ahead of him - as she’d been doing beforehand - he now walked in front of her; he also kept one of their hands clasped together.

Eventually, they arrived at the bottom and were able to see the basement in full; Vivi was practically thrumming with untamed excitement. “This is **SO** awesome.”

“Looks like it hasn’t been used in years,” Lewis pointed out, following after the bouncing ball of energy that flounced about a few feet in front of him.

He stopped, however, and offered a fleeting glance at the staircase they had just come down. Vivi turned around and noticed this, though she understood that it wasn’t because Lewis was afraid of not being able to find their way back (they _always_ found their way back). Nah, he was thinking about the two other members of their group that were still upstairs.

“They’ll be fine,” she reassured, locking her hands behind her back and rocking on her heels. “Mystery really looks out for Artie.”

They’d all split up after Arthur had made it clear that he had **ZERO** interest in exploring a basement - not when they’d found out that the basement didn’t have any working lights. The blond hadn’t looked too pleased about being left alone (as far as actual humans went) but it was a known fact that he found a decent amount of comfort when he was under Mystery’s protection.

“C'mon!” Vivi encouraged, starting to walk again. “The faster we check out the basement, the faster we can get back to them.”

Lewis separated his eyes from the top of the staircase, nodded, and then started to walk towards her. “Sooooo,” he started. “What exactly was this place used for?”

“It was an old shoe factory,” Vivi explained, having done her research before their arrival that evening. “It did well at first, but then it steadily went downhill when competitors started coming out of the woodwork.”

“It went belly-up?“ Lewis assumed, directing the flashlight up at the ceiling when he heard a dripping noise.

” _Noooot_ exactly,“ Vivi continued, sidestepping a puddle of greenish slime. Yuck. “Things got a little messy when the owner of the factory started letting people go. He knew that his business was going under, so why bother keeping people around if you can’t afford to pay them, am I right? Anywhoozer! One employee in particular, Donnie Wallick, wasn’t too fond of the idea of losing his job. He had a wife and kids—you know, the whole family enchilada—so Donnie threatened the owner, saying that he’d get revenge for being fired.”

“Re-ven- _ge_ ,” Lewis repeated slowly, the word foreign on his nice-guy tongue. “I’m guessing he got it?”

“Well, that depends on how you look at it,” Vivi mused. “As Donnie was leaving the factory after he and the owner’s argument, he bumped into an unstable pile of crates and…”

“Squashed?” Lewis presumed.

“Squashed! Like a lemon for lemonade,” Vivi replied, nodding. "After Donnie’s death, weird things started happening. There were more accidents, more deaths, and a whole lot of unexplained paranormal activity. Eventually, the owner decided to just shut the place down based more on the fact that it was haunted. To this day the locals are convinced that Donnie’s spirit is still here, terrorizing all who dare step foot in the factory. _WooOOoOooOo!_ ” She wiggled her fingers at Lewis in what she hoped was spooky emphasis.

He only shook his head, amused. “I feel like I’ve heard that ending before.”

“What? An angry ghost hellbent on scaring people away?” Vivi feigned a dramatic gasp. “And here I thought we were dealing with something original!” The tittering giggle that followed echoed as they approached the first corner of the basement. “Oh, wow. Check these out, LewLew!”

Moving forward, Vivi began to walk around a sea of cardboard boxes that sat on the floor, abandoned. Some of them were open and others were taped shut; she decided to go with an open one and peer inside curiously. “I spy with my little eye…something blue.”

“Um. You?” Lewis teased, grinning.

“Oh, ha-ha. That was so funny I forgot to laugh,” Vivi shot back, sticking her tongue out in good humor. “For your information, wise guy, it’s not me this time. It’s this!” Reaching into the box, she withdrew an old shoe that appeared to be structured for a man. “Talk about blue suede shoes, huh?”

“Seriously.” Lewis shown the flashlight into the box and revealed several more of the same style of shoe. “Think there’s any in my size?”

“Let’s see here…” Vivi hummed, kneeling in front of the box and going through the shoes one by one. "Size nine, size ten, another size ten, _another_ size ten, an eleven…hmmm, nope! Guess they didn’t make any in elk sizes back then.”

“ **Hey** ,” Lewis said defensively, nudging Vivi’s thigh with the toe of his sneaker. “I’m a size moose. Get it right, missy.”

"My sincerest apologies, good sir! It shan’t happen again!” Vivi joked goofily as she stood up and smacked her hands together to rid them of the grimy particles that had been on the shoes. She stepped back to start leading them in a new direction when something caught her eye off to the right; it was hard to see since it was just along the edges of the flashlight’s illuminance, but that was easily fixed. “Hey, Lewberry? Can you shine the light over there? I think I see something.”

Obediently, Lewis directed the flashlight towards the indicated area and held it there as Vivi stepped up to investigate. “I think…I think there’s a _door_ behind here?” she said, pointing at a pile of boxes that was close to a foot taller than her.

“Looks like it,” Lewis agreed, tilting his head.

“Let me get this straight: A haunted factory, an awesome basement, free shoes, and now a secret door? It’s like Christmas came early!” Vivi cheered, clapping her hands together excitedly. Those very same hands soon began hiking the floppy sleeves of her sweater up to her elbows. “Alright, I’ve got this. Stand back.”

Determinedly, she pressed her hands into the stack and started to push. Her heels pedaled along the cement as she gave it her all, trying (and failing) to make the stack move. Lewis kept watch intently - the factory didn’t need two squashed pancake ghosts - and when it became clear that neither the boxes nor Vivi were moving, he decided to interject.

“You know, Bluebird. This might sound crazy, but maybe I could give it the ol’ _pepper?_ ”

Vivi, who was now out of breath and frustrated, stared at Lewis over the rim of her crescent-shaped glasses. “Oh, you did **NOT** just terrible pun me!”

“Sure did,” Lewis shamelessly admitted. “But terrible puns aside, I was serious about moving those boxes.” 

Huffing, Vivi stepped away from the stack, fixed her sleeves back into place, and then crossed her arms over her chest petulantly. “Fine. But don’t be surprised when it doesn’t budg—”

**_Skkkkrrrrrrrrfffffffff!_ **

Blinking, Vivi watched as the pile scraped across the cement with one application of Lewis’ hulking shoulder. She tried to maintain an unimpressed look, because _UGH, MEN_ , yet her lips couldn’t help but smile.

"Y'know, I occasionally forget you’re stronger than an elephant. So much for being a cuddly teddy bear, huh?” She reached up to pat his cheek.

“Well, I _do_ like to cuddle,” Lewis shrugged, truthful.

Setting her eyes on the prize once more, Vivi stared at the door in awe. A ton of possibilities flooded her head - some more gruesome and grotesque than others - and unable to contain herself any longer, she grabbed onto the doorknob and turned…only to instantly realize that the door, in all of its mysterious mysteriousness, was locked.

“Oh my God, **REALLY**?! How freakin' unbelievable is this!” she complained, jiggling the doorknob aggressively.

“It’s actually pretty believable considering most of the doors were locked upstairs, too,” Lewis deadpanned dryly and then looked away, whistling innocently, when Vivi glared rusted daggers at him. 

“Well, so much for that,“ she pouted, releasing the doorknob. "Looks like it isn’t Christmas after all.”

“IIIII wouldn’t stop believing in Santa just yet, sweetheart,” Lewis stated, shining the flashlight down at their feet, where a metallic sheen glistened.  
Immediately perking up, Vivi bent down and collected the rusty key that was half hidden beneath one of the boxes. "It’s a good thing I’ve had a tetanus shot in the last ten years.” Brandishing their saving grace proudly, she inserted the jagged end into the keyhole, gave it a hesitant wiggle-turn, and then beamed when a satisfying little _click!_ met her ears. Ahhh, sweet success~ 

Looking at Lewis, who nodded at her to continue, she opened up the door and saw, to her utter surprise!…more boxes of shoes. Oh. 

“Whyyyy exactly didn’t I see this coming?”

“Because you were hoping it led to a secret passageway or a dead body and not a storage space.”

"Ughhh. How anticlimactic!” Vivi fussed, giving one of the taller boxes within the closet a childish kick.

The action must have had more force behind it than she initially planned, because a cloud of dust shot into the air and showered down onto them in a filmy coating. Vivi had shielded her head with her arms, as if bracing herself for something much firmer to fall, and when everything settled down she hesitantly peeked out.

“Whoopsie…”

Lewis, who was patting away the filth from his formerly nice clothes, could only say: “Nice one.”

“I totally meant to do that by the way. Figured I’d channel my inner _susuwatari_ ~” Vivi said breezily.

Her boyfriend, who had ducked his head to swipe dust out of his plum-colored hair, arched a confused eyebrow. “Susu- _qué?_ ”

“The little soot dudes from the Miyazaki films!”

“Ohhhh,” Lewis understood, straightening back into his full, towering height. “Gotcha.”

“That’s your fun Japanese word of the day,” Vivi announced, extending an arm to playfully boop her index finger along the curved bridge of Lewis’ nose. “Now then, how’s about we try this here paranormal investigating thing again?”

“Hopefully with less dust and unimpressive closets this time?” Lewis jested as he patted away a stray patch of grime from Vivi’s shoulder and leaned down to affectionately kiss her cheek. 

“Less dust and unimpressive closets,” Vivi parroted in agreement while mirroring his kiss. “And more vengeful ghosts!”


	2. The Real Deal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm the slowest updater ever. :'D I'll hopefully have a new chapter for Sleepless soon as well!

The more they explored the spacious basement, the more Vivi began believing that the factory was a big, fat dud. Like seriously, brotato chip, talk about a major disappointment. It seemed that everywhere she and Lewis looked, they were either met with more boxes, more dust, and waaaay too little paranormal activity. Just when she’d thought they were actually getting somewhere, too... Rats!

“I guess we should start heading back,” the dejected team leader sighed, shoulders slumping. “Artie’s probably flipping out that we’re not back yet.” 

Lewis nodded in agreement and started to turn in the direction they’d originally come from. “Don’t take it so hard, Vivs,” he consoled, rubbing her back. “I’m sure we’ll come across another lead soon enough.” 

“I knoooow,” Vivi pouted. “I was just really hoping that this one was legit. It’s **SUCH** a good case, too.” 

Although they were returning to the staircase that fed into the upper level of the factory, she continued to look for potential things they’d missed. Sure, it was a last ditch effort to come across something creepy, but it was worth a try, dangit! She wouldn’t leave the building without giving it her best shot. Even if that meant frantically searching for one tiny thing, one itsybitsy detail, or one smidgeon of a potential— _ah!_

“Hang on!” she exclaimed suddenly, urging Lewis to pump the brakes.

“What is it?” he asked, though he wasn’t left wondering for more than a millisecond before Vivi pointed skyward. 

Slowly, Lewis tilted his head back to see what she was gesturing at; his eyes disappeared beneath his hanging forelock as he looked up and saw, interestingly enough, an open vent above their heads. It was the type of vent that usually led to secret places, and without even asking he knew what Vivi was intending to do. 

“Need a boost?”

“D’awww, shucks. You know me so gosh darn well,” Vivi cooed teasingly with a grin. 

Smiling, Lewis set the flashlight on the ground and angled it so that it would illuminate their actions. He then took a knee in front of Vivi, so she could climb aboard, and when he felt the soles of her shoes connect with his shoulders, he reached for her hands. 

“Keep your arms and legs inside the vehicle at all times,” Vivi narrated, as if she were on a ride at Disney World and not her boyfriend’s beefy shoulders. “Please stand clear of the doors.” 

“ _Por favor manténgase alejado de las puertas,_ ” Lewis repeated the phrase, albeit in flawless Spanish. 

Vivi felt an electric shiver run down the length of her spine. “LewLew, that was _Spanish!_ ” 

“You can kiss up my arm later, Morticia,” Lewis teased, prior to pushing himself into a stand, and therefore boosting Vivi up into the air vent. “Do you see anything?”

Although her head had practically disappeared inside the vent, Vivi was having a hard time seeing what lay beyond. There was usually an intricate network of tunnels inside one of these metal babies, but it didn’t seem, at least to her, that this particular entryway led anywhere but up. She was just about ready to request that Lewis lower her back down when she heard something…something that _wasn’t_ coming from the air vent. 

“What was that?” she asked.

Lewis, who had been focusing on keeping straight and still below her, replied: “What was what?”

"I thought," Vivi mused, squirming to try and lower herself in his supportive hold. "I thought…over there!”

Lewis took her fidgety movements as a direct sign to put her down. He lowered Vivi back onto the ground and fixed up his rumpled sleeves once his hands were free. Vivi, on the other hand, didn't bother straightening out her sweater from where it had bunched up slightly in the process of getting off of Lewis’ shoulders; she moved forward until she was practically cloaked in the basement's darkness. 

Behind her, Lewis retook the flashlight into his hold and walked up to stand beside the curious bluenette. “What’s the story, morning glory?”

"I'm pretty sure I heard somethi—” Vivi began, though stopped on the spot when an unexpected feature accompanied her words.

No sooner had she witnessed the small cloud her breath had formed did she suddenly feel as if they'd walked into a freezer. Lewis noticed the drastic change in temperature as well and instinctively stepped closer to Vivi, partially shielding her. In front of them, the darkness began to distort into flailing, inky tendrils. The boxes on the floor shook with vigor, and the floor above their heads groaned as if it was being forcefully stepped on. 

A swirling miasma of powerful energy suddenly swept around them, rustling their hair and bending the couple frontward with a surprising amount of strength.

_Geeet ouuuuutttt_ , an echoing and formless voice hissed.

Oh. **Oh.** Weeeh- _hell_ , then. That…that sure was something there. Ho’boy.

"…Hey, Lewis?" Vivi said, the epitome of chillaxed in the otherwise horrifying situation.

"Mm?" 

"Turns out the ghost is real after all.”

“I can see that.”

Sure enough, the shapeless and pulsing void began to materialize into a vaguely human shape before their very eyes, completely unafraid of the light Lewis was shining directly onto it. Oh yeah. The ghost was _DEFINITELY_ the real deal. Vivi was thrilled that they'd found an actual one this time (for every actual one, there was at least ten fake ones). It wasn't every day their investigations proved fruitful, so whenever they hit the ghostly jackpot it was the sweetest feeling in the world. 

“IIIII think we should start running right about now,” Lewis suggested, giving his beaming girlfriend a tiny nudge. 

“Huh?” Vivi, who had been watching the spectacle eagerly, looked at Lewis and was suddenly brought down from her spooky high. Reality sunk in, and yeahhh, they probably needed to scoot along, like… **NOW**. “Let’s go!”

Without saying anything else, the two ran as fast as their legs could carry them in the direction of the staircase. Speed was something that came natural to the pair due to Lewis' long strides and Vivi's quick, rabbit-like sprints.

"At least we're getting some exercise!" Vivi joked, hoping to lighten the mood (you know, since they were being actively pursued by an angry spirit and all).

"That's one way to look at it!" Lewis called back.

"Every cloud has a silver linin— _LEWIS! LOOK OUT!_ "

\- - -

Upstairs, Arthur Kingsman grabbed onto his bony shoulders with opposite hands, as though he were hugging himself, and shivered miserably. ”Ughhhh. It's so freakin' cold in here all of a sudden. What's taking them so long anyway?"

Beside him, Mystery looked up and tilted his head, as if saying: 'Beats me.'

Arthur worried his bottom lip beneath his upper row of teeth. "You don't think…something happened to them, right? Because, like, I-I can't go down there!" He hugged himself tighter as he started to panic. "I don't do haunted basements in already haunted factories, man. Nope. Nopenopenope."

In fact, the only reason he was even inside the building in the first place was because the lights were working (that _and_ he didn't want to stay in the van when Vivi and Lewis weren't in there with him). So yeah, okay, he was more or less screwed either way, but at least he had Mystery.

After another two minutes of uninterrupted silence went by, Arthur found that his anxiety was beginning to reach a critical level. Maybe if he just poked his head into the basement…? Yeah. A quick look would work. Just an eeny-meeny, teensy-weensy peek. Cool. He could do this. 

Taking a deep breath that did absolutely **NOTHING** to calm him down, Arthur tiptoed towards the door Vivi and Lewis had disappeared behind an hour or so before. He violently trembled as he stood before the aged wood, feeling ridiculously small in comparison.

Whimpering, he turned around and looked at Mystery, who had stayed where he was, sitting back on his haunches. 'You're on your own, pal,' the canine seemed to say. 

With an audible gulp, Arthur looked back at the door and slowly, so painfully _slowly_ , started to reach for the doorknob. He'd nearly taken it into his hand when the door abruptly flung open towards him, missing his face by a mere fraction of an inch.

Arthur would have bailed so hard had he not been toppled onto the ground, courtesy of a blue human cannonball slamming straight into him. Due to the force of their impact, both he and Vivi were sent rolling across the floor until they became a tangled pile of limbs against the wall.

"Artie!" Vivi exclaimed, speaking over the sound of Mystery's startled barking.

"Vivi?? OH MY GOD. I thought something happened down there, and—”

"Well, funny story about that,” Vivi tried to cut in, but she was verbally steamrolled by Arthur’s frantic, unending stream of words.

"—you were eaten for all I know, and there's no way I could have saved you guys—"

"Artie, listen to me. We really need to—"

"—then **I** probably would have been on the menu, and I'm seriously the most unappetizing human being in the entire world, because I'm legitimately skin and bones, and— _mmmmff!_ "

Arthur's tearing, widened eyes glanced down at the small hand that was now clamped over his mouth, preventing him from saying anything else.

"Shhhh," Vivi hushed him, and then repeated with more emphasis: " _Shhhhhhhh_."

"Mmhm," Arthur agreed behind the firm clasp of her palm, implying that he'd stop talking so she could actually get in a few words.

"We need to get out of here," she stated, getting to her feet and helping Arthur to his.

The terrified mechanic couldn't have been happier to hear that they were retreating, but wait a minute. “Uhh…where's Lewis?"  


"He's right behind m…" Vivi had turned around, expecting to see Lewis, but the largest member of their group was nowhere to be found. Gasping, she hurried over to the darkened doorway of the basement and was prepared to shoot back down the stairs had not Arthur grabbed the back of her sweater, and Mystery the end of her skirt.

"Whoa!" Arthur exclaimed. "You are **NOT** going back down there!”

"But Lewis might be in trouble!“ Vivi protested, yanking Arthur and Mystery along as she attempted to break free from their joint grasp.

A dangerous rumbling erupted beneath their feet, causing Arthur to squeak and cling to Vivi while Mystery cowered between them. The rumbling grew stronger, louder, and it sounded as if it were coming up the stairs. This was it. This was how they met their end. Goodbye, cruel worl—oh wait, false alarm.

Arthur could have cried in relief when Lewis bolted through the doorway, unscathed. He slammed the door shut behind him and leaned back against it heavily.

"We need to get out of here,” he said, confirming what Vivi had stated earlier.

Behind Lewis, the door began to move and pound as if someone were on the other side of it. This, of course, had Arthur stumbling back with a shrill yelp.

"Y-you guys found a ghost?! A **REAL** ghost?! WHY DID NO ONE INFORM ME OF THIS IMMEDIATELY?"

"I was _trying_ to tell you, but you kept interrupting me!" Vivi fussed.

"Well EXCUSE ME for not being cool about this like you and Lewis are!" Arthur fought back, throwing his hands up in exasperation.

"Hey, guys?" Lewis attempted, grunting when the door grew heavier against his back.

"It has nothing to do with being 'cool' about it! We haven't had a real case in over two months, so of course this is a huge thing for us!" Vivi argued, settling her hands on her hips.

"Yeah, okay, huge for _YOU_ ," Arthur accused, jutting a finger at Vivi. "Some of us are cowards over here!"

" _Guys,_ " Lewis tried again, louder, as he felt the wood of the door begin to crack and splinter against the large palms of his hands.

"Ughhhh. Why couldn't we have just gone to the arcade like we originally planned?" Arthur groaned, gripping either side of his throbbing head.

"That was before we knew about this place," Vivi pointed out. 

" **GUYS.** "

Both Arthur and Vivi jumped in response to the booming baritone that successfully ended their back-and-forth banter. It wasn't often that Lewis raised his voice, and when he did? Yeesh, the very air particles around them quivered in fear.

"We need to go. Now!" Lewis commanded, prior to being thrown forward as the door finally broke and gave way to a moaning, ghostly gust.

Vivi and Mystery started to run, yet Arthur froze on the spot as he watched the spirit from the basement explode into existence; it rushed through the doorway like bats out of a cave, stretching over the factory in the form of an enormous, grotesque shadow creature. Arthur would have surely remained there, unmoving, had not Lewis scooped him up and ran off with the blond in his arms. 

Snapping out of his stupor, Arthur held onto Lewis' neck for dear life. "Th-that's not a ghost, dude! That's a **MONSTER.** "

With a heinous roar that shook the walls down to their very foundation, the enraged poltergeist began to gradually wake the dormant factory: Windows broke, machinery came to life with manic activity, and the floor began to crack beneath their feet. Vivi barely managed to dodge a large piece of metal that flew in her direction as she hurried to the entrance, which rested ahead in plain sight. 

_Just a little more_ , she mentally encouraged herself, pumping her legs and jumping across the threshold once she reached it. Mystery leapt after her, and as she turned to see if Lewis and Arthur made it out as well, the door slammed shut, trapping the pair inside.


End file.
